fandomhigh | Combined Reserves Meeting, The Library, Friday Afternoon

A special emergency meeting of the Reserves had been called. There were no snacks today, both to underscore the seriousness of the meeting and because they were meeting in the library and no one had wanted to risk the librarian’s wrath. Or the books’.

“Thanks to everyone who came,” Karla said. “If you listened to radio last night--” or were even marginally observant “--you probably already know that something’s going on. People are vanishing, falling into holes that open up at their feet. Whole buildings are gone, too. Where’s they’re going, no one knows. But other...things are slipping through to this side, too. Dangerous things. Stuff like this? This was why the Reserves were founded. So here we are.”

“The first thing we need if information and lots of it. What do we know? What don’t we know? What can we guess and what can we find out? We need to pool together what folks have already figured out, find patterns, see if we can tell what’s wrong and what needs to be fixed. Researchers are probably our best asset right now, because without them, the rest of us have no idea what to do.”

“But there are other tasks at hand as well. We need to figure out what parts of town have vanished and which are still there. We need to set up medical stations and staff them for those who are injured. We need people with combat capabilities who are willing to serve as escorts. We need people to gather food and water so that as more things vanish, we’re not stranded without supplies. And we need more ideas about what we need, so we don’t forget anything vital.”

Kennedy, thumbs hooked into her belt loops and her expression dead serious, nodded. “We want to keep the dorms and cabins a safe space, but let’s not forget about the rest of the town, too. Fighter-types who want to volunteer for escort duty, speak up; that goes for any of you guys who want to patrol the school grounds or the town, too. People are disappearing-- we gotta know where you’re at. Anyone heading in or out, report in with one of us so you’re accounted for. And keep a cell phone on you if you have one. If you don’t, check in with me; I got a few spares.”

She paused, trying to think of other useful stuff they’d need to know. “Intel’s good, too. Who’s had any run-ins with the nasties out there? Tell us what you know, so we know how to deal with ‘em.”

Jak wasn’t anywhere near front and center; he was lurking near the back, one shoulder pressed against the wall. “And bring guns,” he tossed in, suddenly. “Whatever is running amok out there isn’t going to stand around and wait for you to swing a bat or a sword or something at it.” A beat. “Though if that makes any of you squeamish, I’ll do the shooting for you.” Very helpful, Jak.

Raven's face was pale and drawn as she sat in a chair near Karla, but she was doing her best to not let the pain she was feeling affect her too badly. Fortunately, concern for others gave her something to focus on and distract her. "I intend to send my Soul-Self over the island to see what is affected from above," she said. "If there are any with the skill of flight who wish to join me, we can do this much more quickly and efficiently." She paused a moment, then added, "And if you think you might be suffering any sort of physical effect due to what has been happening to the island and our friends, I should like to speak to you as well."

Tara shot Raven a concerned glance from her own seat beside Kennedy. There were other things to worry about, but she still didn’t like the idea this was causing her friend so much physical pain. “Witches, I know some of us aren’t really fighters, but ... th-this is a time when we have to be. I took some books about combat magic and demonology from the shop yesterday. Hopefully we’ll find some kind of spell that will help ... fix this. All of this.”

There wasn’t much confidence in her voice. But she was trying.

“I have potions,” Zack’s sword was in his hand as he spoke. He was still entirely too shaken from Ino vanishing into thin air to feel remotely comfortable just letting it sit on his back, so he had it resting on his shoulder, hand closed around it so tightly that his knuckles were white under his gloves. “At least enough for everyone left to take one. It’s a one-time quick fix if anyone gets too hurt to make it back to the clinic, and I’d like it if people took a few, just in case. If people need armor, I have a few bangles and armbands. They don’t seem like much, but they have a bit of magic to them, they’ll make you at least a little harder to hurt while you wear them. Don’t think for a moment that potions and armor make you invincible. They won’t, but they might keep you alive. If anyone else has anything they can spare to offer to help protect people the same way, please, do.”

"I have compiled a list from what I heard on the radio," Raven said, "of those who were taken away or believed missing. If you have seen any of those people since last night, please remove them from the list." She'd already taken off Zack's name since he was here in the library with them, which was one good sign at least. "Or if you know of anyone else who is missing, please add their name." She would tape the list to a wall in a moment.

“One last thing?” Karla added. “Keep an ear out for animals--normal ones. And if you know of anyone who has vanished and has pets, let us know. It’s really hot out here and if people’s pets have been unexpectedly left on their own, we should try to take care of them as best we can. It may not seem like much compared to our other problems but in this heat? Without water, animals can die in a matter of a few days. The last thing we want is to get this fixed and have people come home to something like that.”

She looked around at everyone who'd shown up and offered them all a brief smile. "Thank you, every one of you, for showing up and agreeing to help. We can do this. We can keep everything here together and then bring our friends home again. Now let's move."

[Cowritten with the amazing

trigons_child,

life_inshadow,

puppy_fair,

brat_intraining, and

unborn_renegade. ~~Hold for BDE-worthy OCD, please!~~ MOAR OCD THAN YOUR POST HAS ROOM FOR. It's up]

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Karla nodded once, then concentrated on spinning. When the web had been spun to her satisfaction, she called in a silver knife and held it in a tongue of witchfire. "I'll need you to bleed for me again," she said apologetically.

Raven stretched out her arm to Karla. "It is all right," she said gently. "I do not mind." At this point the sting of a knife would probably feel better that what she felt inside, so it was a fair exchange.

It was a quick cut, shallow and even and Karla was sealing it closed with a bit of Craft before it had really begun to bleed. Three drops, that was all that was needed to awaken the Craft in the web.

This time, however, Karla wasn't chasing memories. She was looking into Raven's mind, searching out her mental landscape for her crystal chalice, the Blood's poetic version of the mind.

She found it, soon enough, whole and uncracked. And as she did, she felt her caste-Craft pulling her deeper, past such surface things. She fell into Raven's eyes, further and further down until she was in her friend's very core. Were Raven truly Blood, here was where her inner web would be, glowing with her power. Instead, all Karla saw was a mirror, shaped like a raven, looking more like the Soul-Self Raven manifested from time to time. As Karla watched, the mirror shot up and out, expanding into every direction and time--and then shattered.

The shards of mirror fell like rain and Karla ducked and shrieked, holding up her hands to block the razor edges. Except they paused, motionless in the air, scant hairsbreadth from her skin.

And where she looked into the shards, she saw her friends: Sookie, Emma, Warren, Hinata, Bobby... face after face, like the names on Raven's list.

In the real world, the web blackened and broke, pulling Karla back to her own mind and body instantly.

Raven leaned quickly forward and took hold of Karla's hands. "Karla, what is it, are you all right?" she said. She'd felt the surge of panic and was worried her inner demon had shown itself to Karla somehow and tried to hurt her.

"Fine, fine," Karla replied absently, still going over what she'd seen. "I think...I think I had a tangled vision, while I was examining you. I was deep, where your inner web would be if you were Blood--where your power comes from. I couldn't find the netherverse, maybe because it was a vision or because you weren't with me. Instead, I saw a mirror."

She shared her vision with Raven, explaining what she had seen and what had happened. "But I'm not sure what it means," she confessed when she was done.

Raven frowned. "My inner self shattered?" she said. But it gave her an idea of something she had not done recently, which was manifest her Soul-Self.

She closed her eyes and let the shadow-raven form of her soul rise from her shoulders, then doubled over with pain and gave a sharp cry. Her Soul-Self looked as it always did, but there were jagged holes in its wings, like something had clawed chucks of her away.

"Raven!" Karla said, surging upwards to catch her friend if she decided to topple over. "Hell's fire and Mother Night. What in Hell's name was that?"

"My Soul-Self," Raven whimpered, clinging to Karla. "It hurts. Oh, Azar, it hurts." Now that she'd manifested it, she could feel that it was the source of her pain.

"I knew that part," Karla said, cradling Raven gently. "I more meant...how? It's not like a cloak or something that can get ripped or tattered."

Though that did match up what she'd seen in her vision...

"Why would I have seen your Soul-Self shatter and then seen our friends through the remnants?" she mused aloud.

"You saw that?" Raven said. She pulled her Soul-Self back inside her, though it took some effort. It dulled the pain a little at least. "I do not understand," she said. "Unless...wherever they have gone, pieces of my soul have gone as well. But why?"

"Some kind of connection, perhaps?" Karla suggested. "Perhaps because we went with you to face your father?" She frowned. "Except them I wouldn't have seen people that weren't there, would I?"

"Who did you see?" Raven asked. "Was it only people who are missing? Or just people I am close to?"

"The missing," Karla said immediately. "Bobby and Sookie and Emma and Peter. I think I glimpsed Warren and the crazy professor in orange and Reno."

"Bobby and Sookie and Warren I know, and Emma through you, but the others I have no personal connection to," Raven said thoughtfully. "So if my soul has gone where the others are, why did it not take all of me like the rest? I have not been close to any of these rifts that others fell into, however." This was all very very strange.

"I wish I knew," Karla said, rubbing her eyes. "Your power works in ways I can't always fathom. And anything to do with this mess has me stumped."

"There was a time late last year when my Soul-Self exceeded the time it was said it could be separated from my body," Raven said. "I fell through at least eleven dimensions, possibly more. I had not tried to teleport myself to them; I merely was there." She sighed and shook her head. "I do not know if there is any connection, but I feel that it may be so."

She gave Karla a tiny tired smile. "But time to dwell on that must come later. Our priority now must be our missing friends."

Combined Reserves Meeting, The Library, Friday Afternoon

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